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Labor in high demand like brick layers and roofers are commanding as much as 25 to 50 percent more than they were making before Michael hit the Panhandle.

In a major ruling with big consequences, an appellate court has upheld a judge’s ruling declaring the state’s medical marijuana law unconstitutional.

The First District Court of Appeal ruled that requiring marijuana licensee’s to control all aspects of production, from seeds in the ground to selling medical marijuana, violated the amendment approved by voters.

Jeff Sharkey of the Medical Marijuana Business Association said it will now be up to the Department of Health to draft new regulations.

Earlier in 2019, the Governor criticized the vertical integration of the marijuana business, but he has not yet weighed in on whether DOH will appeal the ruling.

Ultimately, state lawmakers will have to pass new legislation.

Plastic straws are among the top five items collected off Florida beaches each year, according to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

Nearly two dozen local governments in Florida have chosen to either limit or outright ban plastic straws.  

“It’s one tool in the tool box. It’s good to have a lot of tools available,” said Beth Alvi with Audubon Florida. “It helps with protection of water quality, restoring our water bodies.”

If not for the Governor vetoing the proposed legislation, local plastic straw bans would have been put on hold until at least 2024.

Across the street from the Capitol building, Leon County Commissioner Mary Ann Lindley saw the Governor’s veto as an opportunity.

“His veto to me said, no we want all hands on deck,” said Lindley. “We have problems and we would like to know what our communities around the state are doing.”

Lindley said the commission will consider a few different options for discouraging the use of plastic straws, but an outright ban isn’t the likely choice.

“One of them is to simply do kind of an educational outreach program, which I like,” said Lindley.

In the Governor’s veto letter, he said if people want to keep using plastic straws, they can elect local officials who feel the same way.

Aliki Moncrief, Executive Director of the Florida Conservation Voters, said she expects just the opposite.

“Constituents around the state are rising up saying, we actually don’t think single use plastics are as important to us as wildlife protection, as clean water,” said Moncrief.

That could put more pressure on state lawmakers to act on the issue.

Peter Harris runs the Florida A&M Medical Marijuana Educational and Research Initiative that’s charged with educating minority communities.

“The Department of Health is funding us to look into educating the public on the value of medical marijuana, but at the same time, educating the public on consequences of illicit use,” said Harris.

“We’re basically changing the landscape on how you look at marijuana,” said Harris.

Even though doctors may give medical marijuana the okay, it faces resistance in some communities because it has been illegal for so long.

“There is definitely a stigma. The use of marijuana as a medicine in most communities,” said Harris. “It varies on how they accept what they accept, what they do and what they don’t do. ”

New changes to the state’s criminal justice system took effect Monday.

The new laws are the result of  a multi-year effort by criminal justice advocates to reform what they’ve described as outdated laws in Florida.

One of the biggest victories scored by reformers in the 2019 session raises the felony theft threshold from $300 to $750.

“So that the punishment matches the crime more appropriately for modern times,” said Scott McCoy with the Southern Poverty Law Center. “That hadn’t been raised since the 80’s.”

While reformers are happy to see the threshold raised, they initially wanted to see it set at $1,000 or even $1,500.

The $750 limit was a compromise reached with retailers who worried raising the threshold would encourage thieves to steal higher priced items.

“Criminals are very smart,” said James Miller with the Florida Retail Federation. “They know what that theft threshold is and they steal just up to that limit, that way they’re quickly back out on the streets.”

Reform groups push back against that concept.

“If you steal something $750 and below you’re still committing a misdemeanor. It’s still a crime. You can still go to jail for up to a year,” said McCoy.

The Florida Retail Federation says part of the reason it supported the final bill is because it also extends the aggregation period for felony theft from 48 hours to 30 days.

That means if a thief steals $750 over a one month period, they’ll still be charged with a felony.

“We’re hopeful and confident this will help eliminate a lot of the organized retail crime rings,” said Miller.

Criminal justice reform groups hope the new law is only the first step.

Even at $750, Florida’s felony theft threshold remains the lowest in the South Eastern United States.

Alabama, South Carolina and Georgia all have felony theft thresholds set at more than $1,200.

“The reasons that you’ve got the protections that you do is to protect a victim, like this woman,” said Marie Mattox, and employment attorney. “Why would he do it? What would his motive be?”

When asked how they shower, Billy said it’s good to have friends.

The pay at the Department of Corrections simply wasn’t enough.

The O’Bryan’s said that the downed trees that destroyed their mobile home will remain in place for some time.

“More than just that, celebrate that I can celebrate,” said Robin. “I’ve got a home.” 

The Florida Rights Restoration Coalition (FRRC) announced the new initiative via Facebook Live, which would use private donations to help felons who can’t afford what they owe.

So far, the FRRC has raised more than $700,000.

Even with the financial obligations, it’s estimated more than 800,000 felons have become eligible to vote thanks to Amendment 4.

That means there’s a good chance those caught won’t receive the $30 ticket that comes with the offense.

“Really what we want to do is express how important it is that they are putting that phone down, that they’re taking this new law to heart and that they’re changing their behavior on the road way,” said Captain Thomas Pikul with FHP.

FHP will primarily be handing out warnings until the start of 2020.

Amy Mercer with the Florida Police Chief’s Association said many local law enforcement agencies are also going to take the first few months to educate the public on the dangers of texting and driving.

“It gives our police officers the opportunity to educate and speak with drivers on really the dangers of distracted driving, because the last thing we want them to do is learn the hard way,” said Mercer.

Demetrius Branca, a long time proponent of strengthening the state’s distracted driving laws, lost his son in an accident caused by a driver who was suspected to have been driving distracted.

Branca said he’s confused by the decision to delay full enforcement.

“The time for warning is over. We’ve known for years that this is a deadly behavior. We’ve know for years that it’s costing people lives,” said Branca.

Safe driving advocates have also questioned how enforceable the new law will really be even when tickets start being issued.

Warrants must be obtained for police to search phones and drivers are still allowed to use their phones for GPS purposes.

Law enforcement says there are ways to distinguish texting from other phone uses, but they agree the law could be strengthened going forward.

“I think down the road we’ll all be seeking hands free legislation,” said Mercer.

Starting October 1st, school and work zones will be designated as hands free, but no tickets can be issued to violators until the start of 2020.

VisitFlorida, the state’s primary tourism marketing arm begins the new budget year with $26 million less in funding.

It came after a bitter fight to kill the agency.

One casualty of the cut was the closing of a rural welcome center on the state line in the panhandle.

Three hundred thousand vehicles a year cross the Alabama-Florida state line on US 231 in Jackson County.

The welcome center there is he least visited in the state.

That’s why the agency put the center on the chopping block. 

It was set to have closed Sunday night. 

“We’ll be assuming operations of this welcome center,” said Jennifer Adams with the North West Florida Tourism Council.

Keeping the center open will cost the eight rural counties at least $500,000 a year. 

They worried that the major tourist destinations the south would lose business if the center closed.

“Many travelers come in and not knowing where they are going to end up, if we can capture them and direct them to any of the 8 counties in Northwest Florida. That certainly is the vision,” said Adams.

At the heart of the budget cuts was a feud between the agency and the House Speak, Jose Oliva, who has called the agency useless.

The $26 million cut was a compromise to keep VisitFlorida running for another year, but it begs the question: Do the counties taping up to run the welcome center prove that VisitFlorida isn’t needed?